NO166387B - MATERIALS FOR REMOVABLE LABELS AND PROCEDURES FOR MANUFACTURING SUCH LABELS. - Google Patents

Abstract

Removable label stock and a process for its preparation. The stock (10) comprises discontinuous emulsion adhesive segments (12) on at least a portion (14) of one side of a face thereof. The amount of adhesive present for contact with a smooth surface is from about 10 percent to about 30 percent of the amount of adhesive which would have occupied the portion if the face stock were continuously coated with the adhesive. The emulsion adhesive segments have an average height, relative to the surface of the face stock, of from about 15 to about 35 microns; a room-temperature storage modulus of from about 2 x 10<5> to about 1.5 x 10<6> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<4> radians per second, a room-temperature storage modulus of from about 4 x 10<4> to about 5 x 10<5> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<2> radians per second, a room-temperature storage modulus of from about 1 x 10<4> to about 8 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<-2> radian per second, and a room-temperature storage modulus of from about 6 x 10<3> to about 7 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<-3> radian per second; a 180<o> peel strength on a stainless steel panel, having a roughness of about 0.5 micro-inch, of from about 0.5 pound to about 2 pounds per inch at a coating weight of about 40 grams/m<2>; and a glass-transition temperature of less than 250<o> Kelvin.

Description

The present invention relates to material for removable labels comprising a plurality of discontinuous microscopic adhesive segments, and the peculiarity of the material is that the segments are made up of an emulsion adhesive which is applied to at least part of at least one side of a label material and is present in such an amount that between 10 and 30% is available for contact with a smooth substrate in a zone constituted by the adhesive segments in relation to the amount of adhesive that would be present in this zone if it had been continuously coated with the adhesive, the segments of the emulsion adhesive being microscopic and having a average height relative to the surface of the label material of from 15 to 35 um, the maximum width of the segments is between 50 and 400 um, a room temperature storage modulus of from 2 x IO<5> to 1.5 x IO<6> Pascal at a deformation rate of approximately 10<4> radians per second, a room-temperature storage modulus of from 4 x 10<4> to 5 x IO<5> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<2> radians per second. second, a room-temperature storage modulus of from 1 x IO<4> to 8 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10~<2> radians per second. second, and a room temperature storage modulus of from x 10^ to 7 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about lO--^ radians per second. second, a 180° tear strength of between 0.09 kg/cm and 0.3 6 kg/cm on a stainless steel plate with a roughness of approximately 0.013 µm of from 90 g/cm to 3 60 g/cm at a coating weight of 40 g/m<2>, and a glass temperature of less than 250° Kelvin.

The invention also relates to a method for producing a material for removable labels, and the peculiarity of the method is that from an gravure cylinder with an arrangement of cells with an average diameter of from 100 to 400 µm and a cell depth of from 50 to 70 µm, on at least part of a surface of the label material apply adhesive segments of an aqueous emulsion in a discontinuous pattern, and from the applied emulsion form adhesive segments

having an average height, relative to the label material, of from 15 to 35 µm and present for contact with a

smooth substrate in an amount of from 10 to 30% that the amount of adhesive that would have been available for contact if said portion of the label material was continuously coated with the adhesive, the adhesive having a room temperature storage modulus of from 2 x 10^ to 1.5 x 10^ Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<4> radians per second, a room-temperature storage modulus of from 4 x 10<4> to 5 x IO<5> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<2 >radians per second. second, a room-temperature storage modulus of from 1 x 10<4> to 8 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10-<2> radians per second. second, and a room temperature storage modulus of from 6 x 10^ to 7 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10"^ radians per second, a 180° tear strength on a stainless steel plate with a roughness of about 0.013 um, from 90 g/cm to 360 g/cm at a coating weight of 40 g/m<2>, and a glass temperature of less than 250° Kelvin.

Printing of discontinuous patterns of adhesives has been known for a long time in this area and patent documents that can be mentioned are US patent documents 1,882,593, 2,191,704, 2,515,423, 2,822,290, 2,607,711, 3,311,489, 3,508,947, 3,268,357, 2,721,810, 3,505,497, 3,627,559, 3,940,868, 3,174,888, 3,741,786 and 3,857,931. The reasons for printing such adhesive patterns have varied greatly.

"Post-it" which is a product manufactured and sold by the 3M Company has proven successful as a removable note paper. As one imagines it today, "Post-it" is constructed by applying adhesive microspheres to a side of a paper variety provided with a primer, possibly made according to US Pat. No. 3,691,140 to Silver and/or US Patent 4,166,152 to Baker, in a random way. This provides a surface coated with adhesive microspheres. The adhesive microspheres provide a series of peaks and valleys which in turn, in a microscopic sense, provide a generally random, discontinuous pattern. Research has suggested that the product has an effective

height difference of about 20 µm, with about 37% of the adhesive surface available for contact with a flat surface. Contact is initiated at the tips of the adhesive microspheres.

It would be desirable to have greater flexibility in the construction of removable label goods to suit a wide range of different areas of application.

The present invention is thus aimed at the possibility of providing a real alternative to the labels of the "Post-it" type which are removable and which can be repositioned. The principle invention is directed to the establishment of the criteria necessary for an adhesive, when printed in a discontinuous pattern which is of a microscopic nature, to perform the same function as the product of the "Post-it" type which uses microspheres. In principle, the product must be removably adhesive to a wide range of different substrates, especially paper. With regard to paper, it must be possible to remove it without the paper flaking off on the surface or tearing into pieces.

The percentage of area for contact with a smooth surface, i.e. 10 to 30% is given as the amount of adhesive available in relation to the total amount of area that the adhesive would occupy if coverage were complete, to be available at the very top of the adhesive segments for contact with the substrate. This criterion taken with a 180° tear-off determines the tear-off force that will be required to remove the label from a substrate. The tear-off force must be so low that the paper is not torn.

The amount of adhesive that is present must provide sufficient binding sites at the surface so that no solution occurs from the substrate under the influence of weak forces such as e.g. wind. It was found that adhesives with 180° tear force below 90 g/cm would have too low aggression in the contact area indicated to remain on the surface to which the product is attached. Adhesives with a tear strength of more than about 80 g/cm, in contrast, are too aggressive and will tend to tear paper even within the specified area of adhesive available for contact with a smooth surface. In this regard, the area of adhesive available for contact with a smooth surface is a number that is different from the area of adhesive in contact with the label material. This is because the microscopic segments are not applied with parallel sides. The indication of storage modulus as a function of deformation rate defines a class of adhesives which will satisfy the requirement that when printed in a discontinuous pattern they will have sufficient integrity to be removed from a surface, including paper, without leaving an adhesive residue. This is indicated by the requirements for storage y modulus at high deformation rates. Storage modulus at low deformation rates, on the other hand, will define the adhesive requirement that will prevent the adhesive segments from flowing together before use and while they are on the substrate, so that the ability to be removed from a substrate is maintained. All these factors must be satisfied if the product is to work as intended and be bonded to the substrates in a range from smooth to hard, such as e.g. steel, for brittle and rough, such as e.g. paper.

In the latter context, to cover the use of a label material which is paper and therefore has an irregular and rough surface, and the fact that the product must be applied to a

substrate which can also consist of paper and have an irregular and rough surface, a large area has been specified for the height limitations to ensure that enough adhesive segments will be available for contact with both smooth and rough surfaces.

The necessary combination of structural limitations and adhesive limitations is not discussed in the prior art, and although in the context of the present context they must be considered clarified, it is clear that they do not define a product that can be removed from a wide variety of different substrates and in particular paper. About the best they can do is define products with a discontinuous adhesive surface.

In US-PS 2,264,629 the adhesive squares have 0.2" side edge (see page 2, column 2, line 31) corresponding to approximately 6 mm which again corresponds to 6000 µm. This is a significantly larger dimension than the 40 0 µm set as limit of the adhesive segments used in the invention. This is a completely different problem to be solved and a completely different adhesive criterion to solve this problem, about all that the resistance logically stands for is that the adhesive force can be reduced by dividing the total area of adhesive in smaller parts The resistance does not go beyond this point.

US-PS No. 3,033,702 is directed to an apparatus for applying a discontinuous adhesive pattern to a substrate, but does not approach the problem solved by the invention nor the solution both with respect to dimensional properties and adhesive properties that must is satisfied to obtain a product which will be removable from a wide variety of different substrates, especially paper, and which can be repositioned.

The same applies to US-PS No. 4,460,634 which is directed to a device whereby adhesive pieces 2 and carrier pieces 3 are on the same or opposite sides of a material. In the system, the carrier pieces are either non-adhesive and have a particularly reduced adhesive capacity for the adhesive to enable the separation of laminated layers. No dimensions are given nor are any criteria indicated for an adhesive which will have the functionality of a discontinuous microscopic adhesive pattern for use in accordance with the combination indicated as a basis for the invention.

The present invention provides removable labels comprising a plurality of discontinuous, adhesive segments in a pattern on at least a portion of at least one side of the carrier surface and which are present in an amount such that in them the zone together is delimited or defined by the adhesive , ti Tigg agrees that for contact with a smooth surface, such as, for example, stainless steel or glass, from about 10 to about 30%, of the adhesive is present in the pattern,

relative to the amount of adhesive that would have been present in the pattern if the adhesive had been applied as a continuous film. To achieve this level of effective contact, from about 30% to about 75% of the zone that would have been occupied by the continuous film is covered by adhesive segments. The adhesive segments are formed from an aqueous emulsion of particles of about 1 µm or less in diameter and which upon evaporation of water and/or in the case of paper goods, upon penetration of the paper, yield adhesive segments formed by agglomeration of the particles. The segments have an average height of from 15 to 35 µm, preferably from 20 to 35 µm. The extent of the segments is in the range from 50 to 400 µm, preferably from 100 to 300 µm.

The adhesive properties are critical for removability, and can be controlled by in situ and/or post-polymerization cross-linking. The properties determined to be necessary are that the adhesive has a room temperature storage modulus (G') from 2 x IO<5> to 1.5 x IO<6>, preferably;' from 3 x IO<5> to 1.5 x IO<6> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<4> radians/second, from 4 x 10<4> to 5 x IO<5> Pascal preferred from 5 x IO<4> Pascal to 5 x 10<5> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<2> radians/- second, from 1 x 10<4> to. 8 x 10<4>, preferably from 1 x 10<4> to 6 x IO<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10~2 radian/second, and from 6 x 10-* to 7 x 10<4>, preferably from 6 x 10<3> to 5 x 10<4> Pascal at a strain rate of about 10~3 radian/second, as determined using ASTM D-4065-82, modified for soft bases.

The adhesive is further characterized in that it has a 180° tear-off strength on\ rust-free steel plate, with a roughness of 0.013 µm, of from S»© g/oa to 360 g/cm, at a coating weight of 40 g/m<2>. The effective average height of the adhesive segments of from about 15 to about 35 µm is essential for the general use of a removable product, taking into account the roughness of the support and

the substrate surface. The width of the adhesive segments is important to prevent fiber stripping of a paper substrate.

The adhesive used further has a glass transition temperature of below 250° Kelvin, preferably from about 200 to about 235° Kelvin and generally a molecular weight of at least twice the entanglement molecular weight (English: entanglement molecular-weight), and preferably greater than about ten times this grip molecular weight.

Although a wide range of adhesives can be used to build up the removable labels, today it is preferred to use an acrylic polymer adhesive printed from an emulsion using an intaglio cylinder on the carrier surface. Acrylic adhesives will not stain paper or vinyl substrates. Where the surface material is paper, it is preferred that the solids content of the adhesive is at least 60% by weight and has a gel content of from about 65 to about 90%, preferably from about 70 to about 90% by weight on a dry matter basis.

Attached figures 1 and 2 illustrate in a somewhat highlighted manner the general structure of a note paper with a discontinuous, removable adhesive imprinted thereon.

The invention provides removable, pressure-sensitive adhesive labels with adhesive segments contained thereon, provided by gravure printing, screen printing or the like.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the label 10 of an illustrated note paper has on it a collection of discontinuous adhesive segments 12 occupying a portion, zone 14, of the total area (zone 14 + zone 16) of the illustrated surface of the labels. With respect to zone 14, the amount of applied adhesive occupies from 30 to 75% by weight of the area that would have been occupied by the adhesive if this had been applied

continuously above zone 14.

With particular reference to fig. 2, only part of the applied adhesive may be available for contact with a substrate, unless the contact area is increased by compression of the adhesive. The area that is available for contact with a smooth surface, such as stainless steel or glass, of a portion of a given segment 12, depicted as 18, is from about 10 to about 30% of the total area of zone 14, normally from about 15 to about 25%. The actual size of the contact area will vary depending on the roughness or smoothness of the substrate label and the roughness or smoothness of the substrate. As illustrated in fig. 2, which microscopically images a paper surface, the valleys in the paper can prevent contact by forming a segment that is not available for contact. In contrast, more or less contact with another rough surface can be achieved, such contact being due to felting or a lack thereof. To account for large variations in label and substrate, the height of the adhesive segments used should average from 15 to 35 µm, preferably from 20 to 35 µm and more preferably about 30 µm. Adhesives used are emulsion adhesives. Acrylic polymers are preferred. The term "acrylic polymer" means homopolymers and preferably copolymers containing at least one unsaturated monomer such as acrylic acid, butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, methacrylic acid, isooctyl acrylate and the like, for forming the acrylic polymer systems. Acrylic polymer systems are preferred in that they do not stain paper or vinyl. Rubber-based emulsion polymers and the like, with viscoelastic properties as indicated herein, can also be used where soiling is not critical. The amount of adhesive available on a substrate is characterized in that it has a glass transition temperature of at most 250° Kelvin, preferably from about 200 to about 235° Kelvin, and a molecular weight greater than twice the interfelting molecular weight, preferably at least ten times grip- the molecular weight. Gel content, induced by crosslinking, should be from 65 to 90%, preferably from 70% to 90% by weight, on a dry matter basis. The gel content is the amount of polymer that is insoluble in tetrahydrofuran.

The adhesive is further characterized in that it has a 180° tear, as determined by ASTM D-3330-81, from a stainless steel plate with a surface roughness of approximately 0.013 um and from 90 g/cm to 360 g/cm when the adhesive is applied with a continuous coating weight of 40 g/m<2>, on a polyethylene terephthalate foil with a thickness of 50 µm.

As indicated, the adhesive is applied from an emulsion which normally contains particles of diameter about 1 µm or less and which, upon evaporation of the water from the emulsion, coalesce to form adhesive segments having an average height of from 15 to 35 µm, preferably from 20 to 35 around. Confluence of the applied adhesive must be avoided at all times as the performance in such a case is likely to be very poor due to loss of effective height of the formed adhesive to substantially below 15 µm.

The following table I shows the general composition and properties of the preferred adhesives for use in the practice of the present invention.

Adhesive A contains about 60% by weight 2-ethylenehexyl acrylate, about 38% by weight butyl acrylate, and about 2% by weight methacrylic acid, crosslinked with about 0.3 85% by weight "CX-100", which is an aziridine crosslinker, and about 1 .15% by weight dioctyl phthalate. The gel content is approximately 70 to 80%.

Adhesive B contains about 93.5% by weight 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, about 5% by weight acrylic acid and about 1.5% by weight hexane-diol diacrylate as a crosslinking agent.

When creating an adhesive with the required properties, crosslinking is only used to the extent necessary to reduce the aggressiveness of the adhesive. Cross-linking can take place in situ by polymerization or before or after pressing the adhesive onto the label surface.

Adhesive segments applied to the labels are obviously of microscopic size and the invention will now be described in detail in connection with the production of removable adhesive labels in accordance with the present invention.

Today it is preferred to use intaglio printing from an intaglio cylinder with cells having an effective mean diameter of from 100 to 400 µm, preferably from 150 to 300 µm, more preferably from 200 to 300 µm" with a cell depth of from 25 to 70 µm, preferably from 50 to 70 µm" generally spaced up to about 200 ] µm and containing from 20 to 48 cells/cm, the number of cells arranged being inversely proportional to the cell diameter. Here too, the cells are able to cover from about 30% to about 70% of the area of the label surface that would otherwise be continuously covered with the adhesive. Effective coating weight ranges are from 3 to 10 g/m<2>, preferably from 4 to 7 g/m<2>.

Due to the microscopic nature of the cells, contained emulsion is removed by capillary action. The removal is incomplete and this leads to imprinting of irregularly shaped segments. At their maximum width, the segments will range from 50 to 400 µm, preferably from 100 to 300 µm. The lower limit indicated is that required for contact. The upper limit indicated is that necessary to avoid tearing of the paper, i.e. tearing of paper fibers from a paper substrate.

The label substrate to which the adhesive can be applied can vary greatly, depending on the final application, namely from a smooth surface, such as polyethylene terephthalate, a semi-smooth surface such as metal film or primed or coated paper, or a rough surface such as unprimed paper.

When the label consists of paper, the area to be printed with the adhesive can be primed with a primer, e.g. a mixture formed from about 80% by weight zinc oxide and about 20% by weight polymethyl methacrylate to decrease moisture penetration. Corona treatment of straight paper and/or pre-moistening of the paper can also be used to improve the adhesive application. These procedures enable strong adhesion to the paper as the water leaves the emulsion to form the adhesive segments. When corona treatment is used, an effective corona can be developed at voltages of about 350 volts or more and amperages of 7 amperes or more, for paper moving at a web speed of from 30.5 to 44.5 m per second. minute. In addition, transfer of emulsion to the substrate can be facilitated by creating an electrostatic differential between the cylinder and the substrate.

It is preferred today to print an uncoated paper with an acrylic emulsion with a solids content of at least 60%, the acrylic polymer having a gel content of from about 70% by weight to about 90% by weight based on the solids content.

Products manufactured in accordance with the present invention, and depending on the nature of the adhesive emulsion used and the labels to which it is applied, can be used for a number of areas. in addition to note paper and removable tape for conventional office use, they can be used as temporary adhesive strips, as temporary identification tags and for a wide range of commercial applications.

The following is an example of removable labels made in accordance with the present invention.

EXAMPLE

Canary yellow paper with a rice weight of 22.68 kg, a thickness of 0.1 mm, a Sheffield Smoothness test of 250 T/W, Gurley porosity of 15, Cobb number of 22.3, and an ash content of from 10 to 12% was treated. The paper was fed at a web speed of 53.3 m per minute through a corona formed at 350 volts and 10 amperes. An emulsion of adhesive A was printed from a gravure cylinder of diameter 29.2 cm, with 50% of the surface covered with cells of diameter 250 µm and with a depth of 50 µm. An approximately 17 mm wide band was formed on the paper. A package was formed from layers of adhesive-coated paper. In the following, the forces required to remove the adhesive from certain substrates by tearing in the transverse direction away from the substrate are indicated:

Control

A sample of removable note paper was prepared by applying, through a 120 mesh sieve, an emulsion of a polymer containing approximately 62 parts by weight of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, 18 parts by weight of methyl methacrylate, 5 parts by weight of acrylic acid and 15 parts of dibutyl fumarate, onto a chrome-cote paper of rice weight 27 .2 kg, manufactured by Champion International. Adhesive segments with an average size of about 100 µm and an average height of about 15 µm were formed.

The adhesive in the segments had a gel content of approximately 58%. The rheological properties are shown in table III.

When the product was applied to stainless steel with a residence time of 20 min., there was 90° tear-off from the stainless steel with a tear-off speed of 7.62 m per my. achieved paper tearing. The product was unsuitable as a removable label.

Adhesive criteria

The emulsion adhesives of the example and the control were applied through 40, 60 and 80 mesh screens to the paper of the example to give adhesive segments with respective average extents of 390, 310 and 150 µm. The assembly samples were applied to a piston pad known as ""Padmaster", manufactured and sold by Bradner Central Co. of Chicago, Illinois.

The performance at different tear-off speeds is shown in Table IV

The preceding table shows the importance of segment spacing and adhesive selection for proper label performance.

A tear-off speed of 7 62 cm per my. is the highest speed that can be expected during normal use of the product.

The most frequent tear-off speed will be in the order of magnitude from 190 to 380 cm per my.

Claims (24)

1. Material for removable labels comprising a plurality of discontinuous microscopic adhesive segments, characterized in that the segments consist of an emulsion adhesive which is applied to at least part of at least one side of a label material and is present in such an amount that between 10 and 30% is availability for contact with a smooth substrate in a zone constituted by the adhesive segments in relation to the amount of adhesive that would could be present in this zone if it had been continuously coated with the adhesive, the segments of the emulsion adhesive being microscopic and having an average height relative to the surface of the label material of from 15 to 35 µm, the maximum width of the segments being between 50 and 400 µm, a room temperature -storage modulus of from 2 x IO<5> to 1.5 x IO<6 >Pascal at a deformation rate of approximately 10<4> radians per second, a room-temperature storage modulus of from 4 x 10<4> to 5 x IO<5> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<2 >radians per second. second, a room-temperature storage modulus of from 1 x 10<4> to 8 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10-<2> radians per second. second, and a room-temperature storage modulus of from x IO<3> to 7 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about IO-<3> radians per second. second, a 180° tear-off strength of between 0.09 kg/cm and 0.36 kg/cm on a stainless steel sheet with a roughness of approximately 0.013 µm from 90 g/cm to 360 g/cm at a coating weight of 40 g/m<2>, and a glass temperature of less than 25 0° Kelvin. 2. Material as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that the adhesive segments have an average height relative to the surface of the label material of from about 20 to about 35 µm and an average maximum segment width of from about 200 to about 400 µm and a room temperature storage modulus of from about 3 x IO<5> to about 1.5 x IO<6> Pascal at a deformation rate of about IO<4> radians per second, a room temperature storage modulus of from about 5 x 10<4> to about 5 x IO<5> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10<2 >radians per second. second, a room temperature storage modulus of from about 1 x 10<4> to about 6 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10-<2> radians per second. second, and a room temperature storage modulus of from about 6 x 10-^ to about 5 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about IO-<3> radians per second. second. 3. Material as stated in claim 1, characterized in that the adhesive segments are formed from an acrylic adhesive polymer. 4. Material as stated in claim 3, characterized in that the acrylic adhesive polymer has a gel content of from about 65 to about 90%. 5. Material as specified in claims 1-4, characterized in that the adhesive has a glass transition temperature of from approximately 200° to approximately 235° Kelvin. 6. Material as stated in claims 1-5, characterized in that the adhesive consists of an acrylic polymer containing an interpolymerized amount of at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, methacrylic acid and isooctyl acrylate. 7. Material as stated in claims 1-6, characterized in that the adhesive is an acrylic polymer comprising about 60% by weight 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, about 38% by weight butyl acrylate and about 2% by weight methacrylic acid, crosslinked to a gel content of from about 65 to about 90% by weight on a dry weight basis, based on the weight of the monomers. 8. Material as stated in claims 1 - 7, characterized in that from about 15 to about 25% of the adhesive in the zone is available for contact with a smooth surface, in relation to the amount of adhesive in the zone that would otherwise have been available for contact with the smooth surface, if the said zone was continuously coated with the adhesive. 9. Material as stated in claims 1 - 8, characterized in that the adhesive segments have an average extent of from approximately 200 to approximately 300 µm. 10. Process for producing a material for removable labels, characterized in that from an gravure cylinder with an arrangement of cells with an average diameter of from 100 to 400 µm and a cell depth of from 50 to 70 µm, on at least part of a surface of the label material applies adhesive segments of an aqueous emulsion in a discontinuous pattern, and from the applied emulsion forms adhesive segments having an average height, relative to the label material, of from 15 to 35 µm and which are present for contact with a smooth substrate in a amount of from 10 to 30% that the amount of adhesive that would have been available for contact if said portion of the label material was continuously coated with the adhesive, the adhesive having a room temperature storage modulus of from 2 x IO<5 >to 1.5 x IO <6> Pascal at a rate of deformation of about IO<4> radians per second, a room-temperature storage modulus of from 4 x 10<4> to 5 x IO<5> Pascal at a deformation rate of about IO<2> radians per second. second, a room-temperature storage modulus of from 1 x 10<4> to 8 x IO<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10~<2> radians per second. second, and a room-temperature storage modulus of from 6 x IO<3> to 7 x 10<4 >Pascal at a deformation rate of about IO-<3> radians per second. second, a 180° tear strength on a stainless steel plate with a roughness of approximately 0.013 ytm- of from 90 g/cm to 360 g/cm at a coating weight of 40 g/m<2>, and a glass temperature of less than 250° Kelvin. 11. Method as stated in claim 10, characterized in that the adhesive emulsion is applied from an gravure cylinder with a pattern of cells with an average diameter of from about 200 to about 400 µm, and in which adhesive segments are formed from the applied emulsion with a height, in relation to to the label material, of from about 20 to about 35 µm. 12. Method as stated in claim 10, characterized in that an aqueous acrylic emulsion is used as emulsion. 13. Method as set forth in claim 11, characterized in that the emulsion is an acrylic emulsion and that the adhesive segments have a room temperature storage modulus of from about 3 x IO<5> to about 1.5 x IO<6> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10 <4 >radians per second, a room temperature storage modulus of from about 5 x 10<4> to about 5 x IO<5> Pascal at a deformation rate of about IO<2> radians per second. second, a room temperature storage modulus of from about 1 x 10<4> to about 6 x 10<4> Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10-<2> radians per second. second, and a room temperature storage modulus of from about 6 x IO<3> to about 5 x 10<4 >Pascal at a deformation rate of about 10~<3> radians per second. second. 14. Method as stated in claims 10 - 13, characterized in that the adhesive emulsion has a glass transition temperature of from approximately 200 to approximately 235° Kelvin. 15. Method as stated in claims 10 - 14, characterized in that from about 15 to about 25% of the adhesive is available for contact with a smooth surface, in relation to the amount of adhesive that would have been available for contact with the smooth surface, if this part had been continuously coated with adhesive. 16. Method as stated in claims 10 - 15, characterized in that the label material is paper coated with a pre-treatment agent. 17. Method as stated in claims 10 - 16, characterized in that an emulsion is used with a dry matter content of at least 60% by weight, the adhesive having a gel content of between approx. 65 and approx. 90%, on a dry matter basis. 18. Method as stated in claims 10 - 17, characterized in that an adhesive made of an acrylic polymer containing an interpolymerized amount of at least one monomer selected from acrylic acid, butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, methacrylic acid and isooctyl acrylate is used. 19. Method as stated in claims 10 - 17, characterized in that an acrylic polymer is used as adhesive which, based on the weight of the monomers, comprises approximately 60% by weight 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, approximately 38% by weight butyl acrylate and approximately 2% by weight methacrylic acid, crosslinked to a gel content of from about 65 to about 90% by weight on a solids basis. 20. Method as stated in claims 10 - 19, characterized in that the adhesive segments have an average maximum width of from approximately 50 to approximately 400 µm. 21. Method as stated in claims 10 - 20, characterized in that the adhesive segments have an average maximum width of from approximately 50 to approximately 300 µm. 22. Method as stated in claims 10 - 21, characterized in that the adhesive segments provide contact with a smooth substrate to an extent corresponding to approximately 10 to approximately 30% of the zone of the label material in which the adhesive segments are present. 23. Method as stated in claims 10 - 22, characterized in that the adhesive segments are applied with a coating weight of from about 3 to about 10 g/m<2>, on a dry substance basis. 24. Method as stated in claim 23, characterized in that the adhesive segments are applied with a coating weight of from about 4 to about 7 g/m<2>, on a dry matter basis.